Wednesday, 27 July 2016

THANK YOU so much for all the fabulous cards submitted for our last art call, it was so hard to choose just a few to publish! We can now announce the next theme.....

We
are looking for submissions for our Ready, Set, Stamp feature on the
following theme for our December issue of Craft Stamper. If you've always
wanted to see YOUR card in print, now is your chance!!

Colours: Cherry Red, Burgundy, Mint Green, Foliage Green

Deadline for submission: 23rd August 2016

· Please email your submissions to cs@traplet.com

· Please put 'Ready Set Stamp' followed by the theme in the subject line

· Please note that due to the number of submissions it's not possible to
contact every entrant individually - if you have not heard from us within one
week, your submission has not been successful. Please try again with a different card!

Guidelines:

· Please make cards only for this gallery.. NEW work only please, we do not accept cards that have been published elsewhere before submission. . Please do not use stamps that are discontinued for this article. .
We do not accept cards ONLY created with digital imagery for this
feature. Digital imagery is welcome, but MUST be used in conjunction with rubber/polymer stamping
to qualify.

· Cards which are selected need to be posted to the Craft Stamper
offices in the UK.

· This call IS open internationally.

· Note that we do choose artwork as it arrives, so please don't wait
until the last minute to submit if your cards are ready.

· Cards will be returned at our expense, along with a complimentary copy
of the magazine in which your card features. Note this can take approx. three
months.

· Please follow both the theme AND the colour scheme
when creating your
cards. You can add black, white and metallics to any of the schemes. The
ideas given are simply that, ideas, and do not have to be followed to
the letter!

· Text for this article is required (don't worry - it is short!) and
should be entered into the document provided – this will be sent to you if you
are selected.

Friday, 22 July 2016

Hello!As July has five Fridays, we have a extra Friday to spare with no Blog Challenge posts! We decided to share a little more of one of the fabulous projects featured in our August issue today with you all.Lousie Crosbie created this simply STUNNING altered box..

A fabulous steampunk inspired piece, the outside is created from layers of aluminium tape, with DecoArt liquid glass dots as rivets. After many layers of alcohol inks, paints and patina finishes, the end result is a superb take on a steampunk submarine!Through the porthole, you can glimpse an undersea world, created with fusible film and lots of MDF embellishments. As space was limited in the magazine, we couldn't really explore that world... until now!The box slowly opens...

More detail is revealed....

The intricate, layered, fabulously coloured world can be seen!

Swirling waves, and undersea plant life....

Louise says:"The inside of the box was painted blue before building up layers of fusible film and fibres. I used a gel medium to hold the film, then heated with a heat gun until it melted and holes appeared. The gel keeps the film attached in places.I added shells, glitter, beads and gems to enhance the deep sea world. I added Calico Craft Parts flourishes to create the ocean waves and other nautical themed embellishments to set the scene"

The level of detail in this piece is simply astonishing, we love it!

Don't forget, the July Challenge 'Anything Goes' is still running until next Wednesday! Check out all the details HERE

Tuesday, 19 July 2016

The readers gallery we featured in the August issue has proved very popular... so we thought we would have another one!

This readers gallery will feature:

3D Christmas Tree Ornaments!

Any kind of seasonal ornament, but it must be able to be hung up somehow, and it must also feature stamping somewhere! Other than that, you are free to create in any style and in any colours you wish!

The Art Call will be open until FRIDAY 19TH AUGUST 2016.

We will not consider, or choose any entry for publication until Monday 22nd August 2016, and will email all entrants chosen on this date. If you do not receive an email on the 22nd, then unfortunately you have not been chosen.

We WILL send a 'thank you' email upon receipt of entry, just so you know we have it :)

Please do not use stamps that are discontinued for this article.

We do not accept projects created with digital images ONLY for this
feature. Digital images are welcome, but must be used in conjunction
with rubber/polymer stamping to qualify.

Projects which are selected need to be posted to the Craft Stamper
offices in the UK, as soon as possible after August 22nd.

This call IS open internationally.

You may enter as many different ornaments as you wish. However, each entry MUST be in a separate email.

Projects will be returned at our expense, along with a complimentary copy
of the magazine in which your project features once it has been published.

Text for this article is required (it's very short!) and
should be entered into the document provided – this will be sent to you if you
are selected. Help can be given with this if needed!

Projects submitted should be NEW WORK
only, and not previously published in print or online, or submitted to
any other publication. ***Please do not share your work in any way on social media until after August 22nd. If it has been published online first (even a sneak peek), we cannot publish it in the magazine***

Please take a clear photo of your entry, and send it to: cs@traplet.com with the words 'Ornament Art Call' in the subject header.

We are so looking forward to looking at all of your amazing creations!

Avril won
the challenge with this amazing card! We loved thewonderful layering effect of the flowers, and we thought the elegant colour scheme was fabulous!

We asked Avril a few questions all about stamping (well, we are Craft Stamper after
all!)

Q: How long
have you been a stamper, and how did you get started?

A: I have been stamping for about 7 years. It
started when a friend asked me to go to a card class, reluctantly I said 'yes'!
I didn't think rubber stamping was my thing – how wrong could I be!

Q: What are
your favourite kinds of stamps, and do you have a favourite stamp company?

A:I have a wide variety of stamps and I do love
Vintage.I have more Tim Holtz and
Artistic Outpost stamps, so I think they must be my favourite!

Q:
Describe your style, are you a messy kind of stamper or a more ‘clean and
simple’ kind of person?

A: I'm definitely a messy kind of stamper and love
messing about with backgrounds and inks.

Q:What
kind of projects do you like creating the most?

A: I do tend to veer towards Vintage and Feminine,
but I do like to try different styles as it's easy to get into a comfort zone
and not explore different possibilities.

Q:
Apart from stamps, what is the one product you wouldn’t be without when you
craft?

A: If it was only one product I couldn't do without
inks, but stencils come a very close second.

We
also asked Avril to show us a couple of her
favourite stamped creations, and share why she likes them so much. Here
are the gorgeous projects she has chosen:

"I needed a card for a friend who loves red, so
the Tim Holtz Runway Girls were perfect for this card.I stamped and masked the central figure
before stamping the other images. The background was made with Brushos and I
randomly stamped elements from Tim Holtz's Correspondence set and texture paste
through a stencil.To keep the tones of
red, I used the Brushos and the thickener to paint the dresses" - Avril

"I've usedstamps from Artistic Outpost for the image, which I masked before adding
the background image with second generation stamping.Another image was cut apart to fit the film strip.The background was texture paste and
paint.I love adding flowers to
projects and this time I've used the Tiny tattered floral die" - Avril

Congratulations Avril on being our June Design Winner, and
it was lovely to learn a little more about you!

Do
YOU fancy having a winners profile all about you on the CS blog?

The
profile is part of the prize package for each Design Winner of our challenges.
All you need to do is enter a creation into the challenge, then if you are
voted Design Winner everyone will be reading all about you before you know it!

Our
current challenge 'Take A Stamp : ANYTHING GOES" is open for another 10 days or so! Don't
forget the fabulous prize, a big bundle of MDF substrates from Calico Craft Parts.

Friday, 8 July 2016

Our current Take It Make It challenge is in full swing, with some amazing entries so far!

Just
in case you need a little more inspiration, the DT have come up with
some more amazing projects to share today :) First though, a bit of a
reminder.....

The theme for this month is:Anything Goes!(just remember to add stamping on your project somewhere!)

Show
us how unique you can be, create anything your imagination cares to dream up! Share your
cards, journal pages, layouts, 3D assemblage or whatever else takes your
fancy. Your project can be any colour you want... as long as
you've stamped somewhere, then you're good to go!

We
have two prizes on offer, as always. The first is the Sponsor Prize,
and the winner of this will be randomly chosen from all the eligible
entries of the challenge. To make sure your project is eligible to win,
make sure you have followed our challenge guidelines. These can be found on our sidebar over here ---------->

Calico Craft Parts stock an ENORMOUS range of laser cut MDF and chipboard shapes. From the brand new range of houses, through ATB cube kits and lots and lots of flora, fauna , seaside and seasonal shapes, there are simply too many products to mention! Lots of wonderful substrates
for all you mixed media people to get creative with, and also plenty
for those looking for a simple embellishment for a CAS card!

The prize on offer for our randomly selected winner is this bundle of goodies!

We have... 3
aperture ATB kits, 4 beach/nautical mini shape sheets, a seashell frame
ATC blank, a nautical shrine kit. The ATBs and the shrine kit come in a
flat pack as you can see, you will need to glue them together once you
receive them. Easily done, it takes minutes :)

As always, we will also have a Design Winner this month.

This winner is chosen by our DT,
who all vote for their favourite design from all of the entries. This
winner will have their winning project published in Craft Stamper
Magazine, (with a 2 page spread of their very own!), they will have a GDT slot for an upcoming challenge, and will
also feature in their very own Winners Profile blog post!

I
hope the prizes have given you all an incentive to win...... and how
about some eye candy from the DT to give you some beautifully stamped inspiration!

Friday, 1 July 2016

This month is a 'Take A Stamp' month, so the theme is:Anything Goes!-just remember to add stamping in there somewhere!

Show
us how unique you can be, create anything your imagination cares to dream up! Share your
cards, journal pages, layouts, 3D assemblage or whatever else takes your
fancy. Your project can be any colour you want... as long as
you've stamped somewhere, then you're good to go!

We
have two prizes on offer, as always. The first is the Sponsor Prize,
and the winner of this will be randomly chosen from all the eligible
entries of the challenge. To make sure your project is eligible to win,
make sure you have followed our challenge guidelines. These can be found on our sidebar over here ---------->

and also in a tab under the banner at the top.PLEASE REMEMBER: We only want to see ONE project in each individual blog post entry!A set counts as more than one :)

Calico Craft Parts stock an ENORMOUS range of laser cut MDF and chipboard shapes. From the brand new range of houses, through ATB cube kits and lots and lots of flora, fauna , seaside and seasonal shapes, there are simply too many products to mention! Lots of wonderful substrates for all you mixed media people to get creative with, and also plenty for those looking for a simple embellishment for a CAS card!

The prize on offer for our randomly selected winner is this bundle of goodies!

We have... 3 aperture ATB kits, 4 beach/nautical mini shape sheets, a seashell frame ATC blank, a nautical shrine kit. The ATBs and the shrine kit come in a flat pack as you can see, you will need to glue them together once you receive them. Easily done, it takes minutes :)

As always, we will also have a Design Winner this month.This winner is chosen by our DT,
who all vote for their favourite design from all of the entries. This
winner will have their winning project published in Craft Stamper
Magazine, (with a 2 page spread of their very own!), they will have a GDT slot for an upcoming challenge, and will
also feature in their very own Winners Profile blog post!

I
hope the prizes have given you all an incentive to win...... and how
about some eye candy from the DT to give you some beautifully stamped
inspiration!